When there were "strong political reactions" from New Delhi, the Uttar Pradesh government restored 24x7 power supply to Rae Bareli and Amethi - parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) had stated on Thursday that power cuts were affected in the two VIP districts because there was an acute power shortage, now it stated that as "part of routine adjustments" there was power rostering in the two districts. It was also specified that there no instructions for these two districts and power cuts happened even in VIP areas like Kannauj, a parliamentary constituency which is represented by Dimple Yadav, wife of the chief minister. No reason was cited though why power rostering was undertaken. Uttar Pradesh is facing severe power crisis, with peak demand for electricity going up to 11,500 mega watt, whereas supply from different sources in around is 8,000 mega watt. There is a shortfall of over 3,000 MW. Power officials were trying their best to resolve this issue though they stated that in future the power scenario is likely to be grim.

13-Apr-2013Others

BJP presses for SIT probe in coal blocks allocation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation regarding the alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks. They said that the UPA would not allow the CBI to function independently. This was in reaction to a report in a national daily that states that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government "vetted" the coal blocks allocations probe status report before its submission to the Supreme Court. Sushma Swaraj stated that this was proof enough that there were government's pressure on CBI to save the prime minister. As per the news report the CBI report which was submitted last month, was vetted by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and officials of the Prime Minister's Office. Senior CBI officials, including Director Ranjit Sinha, were called by Kumar days before the status report was submitted. Several amendments in the status report were recommended and some also included by the CBI in the report. BJP leader Arun Jaitley stated,"CBI's image of an independent agency is now completely demolished and dismantled. CBI cannot go to the root of the matter and find the truth, and even if some honest officer tries to find the truth, the UPA is a rogue government which will not allow it to act independently." This is the reason why BJP was in favor of seriously considering an SIT probe.

13-Apr-2013Business

Dena bank to expand business, looks for Rs 600 crore infusion

Dena Bank intends to expand this year and add 150-175 branches and 560 ATMs thus including Rs 600 crore to its capital. Right now the bank has 570 ATMs. It hopes to have 24% growth. The bank had Rs150000 crore last year and hopes to have Rs400000 crore by 2017. The bank focussed on retail lending specifically on traders and doctors.

13-Apr-2013Entertainment

Who is going to rule Bollywood in 2013?

There will not be any Salman Khan’s movie this year and so there are speculations who is going to rule Bollywood in 2013. Salman who had dished out Ek tha Tiger last year will give everyone a tough fight even without his presence. The contenders can be Shah Rukh Khan with Chennai Express, Aamir Khan with Dhoom 3, Akshay Kumar with Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Again, Hrithik Roshan with Krrish 3 and Ranbir Kapoor with Besharam. Salman is taking a break for health reasons and also the court cases can hinder his film release.

13-Apr-2013Sports

Sita finally gets Rs 1 lakh due to her

After two years of her victory in Special Olympics in Athens in year 2011, Sita got what she deserved that is Rs 1 lakh reward announced by the Madhya Pradesh government for her achievement This came after her story was highlighted in media. She was helping her mother sell golgappas and a promising career had almost ended due to negligence by the officials. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sanctioned Rs 1 lakh to Sita Sahu . She had won two bronze medals at Special Olympics: in 200 meters and 1,600 meter races in Athens. The government had announced Rs 1 lakh for gold, Rs 75,000 for silver and Rs 50,000 for bronze for the winners of the games. Sita should have got Rs 1 lakh, but nothing came her way though there were several reminders while the CM rewarded Olympic winner from Haryana Susheel Kumar.

13-Apr-2013Science and Technology

Broadband connectivity to 2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats

In sync with its promise in the National Telecom Policy-2012 of ensuring affordable and quality telecommunication services in villages and remote areas, the government has given approval to a project which will link 2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in through Optical Cable (OFC) under National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). In the telecom policy it was stated that the country’s GDP will get a boost through telecommunications. NTP specifies offering high speed broadband access to all village panchayats by the year 2014 and then to all villages and remote areas by 2020. A tripartite MoU among Central Government, State Government and Bharat Broadband Network Limited that will be executing the project was signed. 16 States/UTs had already signed MoUs on 26th October last year. They include- Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and 3 Union Territories viz. Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Puducherry. A minimum bandwidth of 100 Mbps will be provided at each of GP.